The capability to provide a radiographic image in digital form makes it possible to apply a range of image processing utilities and applications. This includes applications for improving image appearance and for presenting and highlighting or accentuating various features within the image, including features of both clinical and diagnostic significance for medical images. Thus, for example, an original digital image for a chest x-ray can be processed not only to help assist in detection and diagnosis of a patient's condition, but also to help improve the detectability of a tube or a PICC (Peripherally Inserted Central Catheter) used during medical procedures. Advantageously, a single exposure of the patient to x-ray radiation can provide primary, original image data for processing in any number of ways to generate multiple processed images, each designed to help to show particular features.
There are various image processing utilities available, depending on the type of medical image that is obtained. For a chest x-ray, for example, image processing routines have been developed for accentuating tube and tip placement, so that these devices, when inserted into the patient, can be more readily detected. Tube and tip placement detection and highlighting is described, for example, in commonly assigned U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2010/0098314 entitled “Tube Detection in Diagnostic Images” by Huo et al., and in commonly assigned U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2009/0190818 entitled “Computer-Aided Tubing Detection” by Huo. Other image processing utilities provide improvements in image contrast which can be applied over one or more regions of interest or globally, rib suppression to help improve visibility of lung tissues, and processing treatments that help in the detection of pneumothorax or other conditions.
In addition to images having particular processing utilities applied, it can be generally beneficial to associate images for a patient so that, for example, comparison of images obtained at different times can be performed.